Ground Zero: Evil Teacher

I have written about the wealth of traditional knowledge to be found on display on Main Street, Hassan. Today, let me add that formal "education" is also quite big here. I see schoolchildren in uniform travelling to school - most dangerously, if I may add. I have seen the buses of many English-medium schools and colleges. In my local ganja hunts I have seen schools, schools and more schools. It is interesting that the owners of the Dosa Centre have sent both their sons into formal education. The older boy has just passed Telecom Engineering - and is looking for a job. The younger chap is pursuing a PU in Science. I advised him to acquire the rare and precious knowledge that his parents possess - and start a business. I told them of how I had a great South Indian vegetarian dinner at a swank restaurant in Leicester Square, London.

Unlike most people, I do not feel happy seeing young people going to school and college. I always shudder at the thought of the great errors that their minds will be corrupted by. The formal education system is "socialist" in its orientation. It teaches the young nothing about The Market. And these young people have a vital stake in The Market - and in the cities where they live. It is not just that the administration is utterly ignorant of these principles; it is also a sad fact that the people are ignorant of these ideas too.

To most "educated" Indian people, the economy is a potted plant lying on montek's window sill in Yojana Bhawan, New Delhi. They imagine "economic growth" to be something that occurs to this potted plant when montek waters it and cares for it. They have recently been told that this potted plant "overheated" in the harsh Delhi sun, and that suitable corrective measures have been taken. Inflation will recede; growth will return to 8 per cent. Good old montek, they cheer. They do not see the entrepreneurs in the main streets of their own cities and towns. Indeed, they do not see The Market at all.

This brings me to the "academic question" - is India officially a "socialist" country, as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has affirmed. It is a fact that this socialist government has passed legislation to the effect that school education will be "compulsory" for our young. It is indeed a matter of serious academic interest whether or not they are trained to see how The Market works.

Note that Law is nothing but brute force. The socialists in New Delhi are using the full force of Law to brainwash the population. These are not teachers like the naked Jain saint whose statue I saw at Sravanabelagola. These are teachers with guns - and teaching by force cannot be called teaching. Yet, that is precisely what they are doing. The history of socialism is nothing but a history of the misuse of force.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is looking for a political party to rise and challenge his ruling. I would much rather prefer a loud campaign in the media against socialism, against socialist education, in favour of spreading the knowledge of Market Economics. I hope editors, columnists and other opinion makers carry this forward. I hope concerned parents take up the cause.

It was Adam Smith's good friend, David Hume, who provided us with the key insight that any government is but a minority, and all it rests on is public opinion. The task ahead is to unsettle the legitimacy of the very word "socialism," now protected by Law.